Athletic shoe.



N. B. JOHNSON,

ATHLETIC SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB, 5. 191a.

ll fiw wfio I Patented June 12, 1917.

. tion mcoLAI IB.\ JOHNSON, or cmcaeo, rumors.

ATHLETIC SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pate adam 1 2*, 19517,

Application filed February 5, 1916. Serial Nbf'raaaz.

provide'means for stilfening the soleof theshoe, so that the cleats ordinarily worn thereon will not pressthroughthe sole and injure the foot, particularlyin wetaveather when the soles ordinarily become soft.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the treads may be quickly and conveniently changed, so as to adapt the shoe'to the particular weather or other conditions that may exist from time to time.

A further object of the invention is to provide treads to which mud or other wet substances will not clingv and to provide cleats of material, which, is much more suitable than the ordin'ary leather cleats in common use; and also to fasten the cleats in such a manner as to avoid the disadvantages of the ordinary manner of fastening cleats. Other objects of the invention'will appear upon a consideration of the accompanying drawings, and the description of my invenherein. 0 Of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of sole and heel treads of a shoe which embody features of my invention. Fig. 2, is an enlarged sectional view of one of the cleats showing themeans for fastening the'cleat to the cleat support. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of modified means for fastening the cleatsyand Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a'modifiedffor n of tread which may be substituted for the tread shown in Fig.1 if the weather conditions make itdesir'able, n r

As' suggested. jhereinabove, it is desirable to stiffen the sole ,of the ordinary footvball shoe has been worn for some time, even in dry weather, especially if' the ground is hard aswhen frozen, the inner surface of the soleydue tothe cleats, becomes ,uneven, and'blisters orcalluses are formed on the'foot; and this is not only painful and I dangerous, but it also reduces the speed of the player; and when the shoe is to be used shoe. When the in moist weather, disadvantages are increased. Fol-"these and other reasons, I have" provided the metal plate 5 to stiflen the sole of theshoe. 'l liis plate is substantially of the the sole of the shoe but, in view of the fact that it is necessary to avoid any liability of the metal pieces on the shoe striking any of the players inlthe game, I provide plates which are somewhat smaller than ,the sole ,of

sothat the leathersole of the shoe the shoe, I projects beyondthe plate at all points. By

this arrangement, the leather itself acts asa buffer and alwayspreven'ts the metal coming in contact with any of the other, players,

I provide inthe metal plates, openings 6 through which screws 7, or any; suitableifastening means may be inserted. ,In thisinstance,I prefer the screws, and by the use of these screws-,,therplates may be readily {Sole iiftens {these i same forin "as l removed and other plates substituted-I In I dry weather cleats somewhat similar, to those shown in Fig. 1 are-used;..but in. wet and muddy weather longer cleats, somewhat similar to thoseashown in' Fig. l are a desirable, in .orderto prevent slippingand otherwise to cause the wearer to, be surefooted. By the. use of supportingplates, a wet weather tread may be quickly and. con- In order toprevent the screw. holes'iu the solesofthe-shoes from becoming nna duly. worn. when other trends. are" SdlbStlr tutec l, Iprovide the .openings 9, shown in Fig. 4', so that theygwillhnot register with the screw; holes inttheasoles of the shoerequire'd fortheplate shown-inli ig. 1., In this Way, each plate'whit-h maynbe veniently substituted for a, drylweather tread. l

in theplate 2.

used on the,shoeihas its screw :openingslo- 3:1

cated in its,- own particular. place: and ithe corresponding. openings in .the. sole of "the shoe are used onl v The leather cleats commonly-usedon football shoes become soft; in moist weather, and frequently by,us e become deformed and more or less objectionable in shape: and the moist leather, particularly when deformed, r-lil'igs to mild or other moist substances. so; that the tread becomes clogged.

ever, that the mud does not cling materially;

v-for theparticular plate.

and frequently the cleats will become entirel useless as themud to tllemetal plates: and. by the use flofd loats 5,

composed of material which retains its sha pe and smooth surface when. wet, the mud clings to neither plate nor the cleats. Other suitable materials may be used; but I prefer for the purpose the water-proof vulcanized fiber cleats 10. I find that mud will not cling to the cleats or to the plates, when such material is used, as it retains its smooth hard surface when moist, and does not become deformed.

Much trouble results by the use of the ordinary leather cleats, because of the fastening means necessary to be used. These cleats are fastened by means of nails or rivets, which project through the soles of the shoes. As a consequence of this method of fastening, when the leather cleats become worn somewhat on the tread thereof, the rivets are forced inwardly against the bottom of the foot, and injury frequently results thereby. By the use of my metallic plates 5, the cleats 10 are riveted directly to the plates by means of rivets 11; and the sole of the shoe is sufficient protection to the foot under any ordinary conditions which are likely to arise.

Also, because of the softness of the leather, and because of the necessity of forming the leather cleats out of layers of leather, it is necessary that the ordinary fastening means shall extend outwardly substantially to the lower surface or tread of the l'eat, and as a consequence, as the tread becomes worn, the head of the fastener becomes exposed and injuryis likely to result by the projecting head of the rivet coming in contact with some other player. By the use of my cleat,l iowever, the heads of the rivets may be passed into counterbored openings 12 a very material distance from the tread of the cleat; so thatthere is little or no possibility of the tread being worn sufficiently to cause the rivet heads to project. And to assist in preventing wearing of thetread, and to make aneater appearingcleat, and for other purposes, after the cleat has'been riveted tothe plate, I fill in i the enlarged openings 12 with some substance such as-the fiber 13. The rivet-head thus becomes deeply. embedded in the fiber, so-that the possibility of becoming exposed and thus causing injury is extremely remote. 'In this instance, I prepare the fiber 13 by grinding up ordinary fiber, and 'mixing it with shellac. 1

It is desirable for the most effective use -with theabove shoes to have the treads on thesoles of the shoes as close to the edges of the soles as is practicable By the use of leather cleats asordinarily fastened to the soles, it is not practicable to place the cleats close to the edge of the sole so that they extend outwardly at all beyond. the foot, because they tend to turn outwardly more and more by use, and soon become valueless, if not injurious. By the use of my plates 5, which add sufiicient stiffness to the sole, the cleats may be placed substantially flush. with the edge of the plates. But, inasmuch as it is desirable, as hereinabove suggested, to make .the plate somewhat smaller than the sole, in order to throw the tread of. the cleats as far outwardly as possible, I provide cleats with the outer sides 14 thereof substantially perpendicular to the plates, as indicated in Fig. 1. I thus am able to throw thev tread of the cleats outwardly nearly to the edge of the sole of the shoe; and by the particular means used, am able to prevent the turning outwardly of the cleats, even in wet weather and most unfavorable conditions otherwise.

It is evident that substantially all that has been said with reference to my invention and to the sole of the shoe applies equally as well to the application of the invention to the heel of the shoe derstood that the heel of a foot-ball shoe is thin and subject to somewhat the same disadvantages as is the case with the sole.

I am aware that stiffening plates have been used with shoes; but such plates are ordinarily not placed outside of the sole of the shoe and hence do not prevent sticking of mud to the tread; and they are arranged with openings through which the cleats may be riveted to the leather sole; thus allowit being uning the cleats to force through the opena metallic plate, means for fastening-sai plate to said shoe, non-metallic cleats, and

means for fastening said cleats directly to said plate independently of the sole of said s cc.

2. The combination of a foot-ball shoe and a tread therefor, said tread comprising a metallic plate, means for fastening sai plate to said shoe, non-metallic cleats and means for riveting said cleats directly to said plate, the edgesof said sole extending beyond the edges of said plate'.'

3. shoe tread comprising a metallic plate and cleats fixed to said plate, said cleats being formed of water-proof vulcanized fiber.

4. A shoe tread, means for fastening said tread to the sole of a shoe; and elongated cleats fixed to said plates extending to and parallel with the outer long edges thereof,

the outer sides of said cleats being substantially perpendicular to said plates.

5. The combination ofa shoe and a tread for said shoe, said tread comprisinga metallic plate; said plate extending outside continuously over approximately the entire surface of the sole of the shoe; and horizontally elongated cleats riveted to said plate; the outer long sides of said cleats being substantially flush with the outer edges of said plate and extending substantially perpendicular therefrom, said cleats being composed of vulcanized fiber.

6. The combination of a shoe and a tread for said shoe, said tread comprising a metallic plate; said plate extending outside continuously over approximately the entire surface of the sole of the shoe; and horizontally elongated cleats riveted to said plate; the outer long sides of said cleats being substantially flush with. the outer edges of said plate and extending substantially perpendicular therefrom.

7. A shoe tread comprising a metallicplate and cleats riveted directly to said plate, said cleats being formed of non-metallic Water-proof substances, having smooth surfaces.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand.

NICOLA I B. JOHNSON. 

